Letters to the Editor, July 26

San Francisco Chronicle

July 26, 2015

Regarding “Ban political spending by big federal contractors” (Insight, July 19): Robert Reich tells it like it is. It is outrageous that we permit the defense industry to overcharge us while it bribes our legislators to keep doing so with campaign contributions. It’s also outrageous that “We the People” have become “We the Corporations” who promote their own general welfare and secure the blessings of taxpayer support to corporate executives, all at the expense of we the people. Yes! President Obama can and should issue an executive order banning political activity by corporations getting more than half their revenue from the federal government.

Julie Spickler, Palo Alto

Fix root causes

Is society avoiding solving problems, not by correcting their root cause but by trying fixes that will never work? There are many examples, but let me list a few that are topical:

•We spend taxpayer dollars in an effort to make pedestrians safer, but would the money be better spent educating both pedestrians and drivers on how to navigate city streets correctly?

•Gradually the term “undocumented immigrants” has become the normal description for individuals who enter the country illegally. Does that really fix anything? Shouldn’t we work harder to prevent illegal entry and put systems in place that facilitate the entry of individuals that this country needs?

•We know that as more and more guns are sold we do not get safer. Rather, our country gets more dangerous as more weapons fall into the hands of those who should not have them. In a civilized country, we should not need a weapon to protect ourselves from others.

Surely this is all driven by money with gun sales soaring in recent years; can we not discuss this truthfully and shut down special interests?

John Moore, Petaluma

Analyzing race

I was encouraged by the headline of “Speak up, avoid silence” (Insight, July 19), but was disappointed to find that the articles only talked about talking about race; what a missed opportunity. Where was the in-depth analysis of how we got here?

Where is the reading list of books and articles dealing with the history? I would like to recommend that “Dog Whistle Politics” by Ian Haney López, and the “Fresh Air” interview of Richard Rothstein be added to such a list, for starters. Spoiler alert: Government at all levels played major roles in getting here. Where is the analysis of the validity of the stereotypical images we have of minorities and poverty in general?

A good start would be a discussion of how recent studies on mobility, one by Raj Chetty and Nathaniel Hendren and another by Lawrence Katz, invalidate the stereotypical image of poverty culture that provides the justifications for the benign neglect of governments and perpetuation of the status quo.

Talk is cheap, but talk about talking is even cheaper. If we are going to make progress, we need to understand where we are and how we got here.

John Leys, Hayward

Voice of the city

Thank you to The Chronicle columnist Carl Nolte for “Finger-pointing reveals no-fault government” (July 19), which clearly outlined the hypocrisy and disfunction in San Francisco in the aftermath of the tragic killing three weeks ago of Kathryn Steinle: “The mayor blamed the sheriff, the sheriff blamed the mayor. The progressive politicians who run the town blamed the immigration service, which, in turn blamed the city.”

More and more, Nolte has become the true voice of San Francisco. Is anyone listening?

Michael Traynor, Burlingame

Trump’s folly

Seriously, folks! Does Donald Trump really think that throwing away the Latino vote, one of the fastest-growing populations in the country, with insults will win him votes in other communities? Most American households have a veteran of some war among its members. Does Trump think his odious remarks about Sen. John McCain’s prisoner of war status is going to bring him kudos? Of course not. I think he has enough money to say and do anything he likes and is having a wonderful time doing so, thereby giving the really rich a bad name. Or maybe he secretly wants to bring down the Republican Party, which seems unable to distance itself from him fast enough.

Margaret Stortz, El Cerrito

Trumped again

Donald Trump badmouthed Sen. John McCain, and it hit the media like a tornado. All weekend, the name Trump was on every newscast. I think he knew what he was doing, and his name trumped the GOP hopefuls on every newscast.